The General Shops: Producing anything and everything for BPA’s grid

Inside the 250-acre Ross Complex in Vancouver, Washington – the industrial hub of the Bonneville Power Administration's transmission business – is a collection of shops that aren't open to the public but yield immense public benefit. Known as the General Shops and open since the 1940s, the workspace houses specialized machines and high-tech equipment to produce an array of essential transmission parts and equipment for BPA's grid.

“We make just about anything and everything in terms of transmission hardware that Bonneville needs to maintain the system," said Specialty Services supervisor Loren Bradd.

Four crafts make up the General Shops: machine, sheet metal, welding and paint. Their ability to produce unique in-house creations, ranging from busbars carrying 500-kilovolt electric current to rail supports for moving 500,000-pound transformers, are visible throughout BPA's service territory. Allowing parts to be ordered, crafted and delivered faster, the shops help keep critical construction and maintenance projects moving forward on time and on budget.

During transmission line outages, Bradd said the shops stay in “maintaining grid operations" mode, quickly producing new equipment to supply crews in the field. The shops stepped up earlier this year to support crews in Eugene, Oregon during the January storm that impacted most of the Pacific Northwest. When a damaged tower arm needed replacement, the shops were able to significantly speed up the repair process by working directly with teams in the field to confirm the specific parts needed and immediately begin fabricating the replacement.

According to Bradd, nearly all pieces of equipment produced have a catalog ID. Working closely with Supply Chain inventory specialists, they determine warehouse stock requirements and establish lead times and minimum order quantities that maximize the efficiency of the shops' production.

“The work that the Ross General Shops does is thankless," supply management specialist Cymany O'Brien said. “The shops are an integral partner for Supply Chain in delivering materials for our clients."

Craftworkers from the different shops coordinate with each other during the production of certain parts. A process known as equipment drawing kicks off the collaborative development by laying out the components for specific pieces of equipment. Sheet metal mechanic Brandon Eib said craftspeople within the different shops work on individual parts that eventually come together to form the final product. Parts go through both the machine and sheet metal shops where they are cut to length and receive necessary angling and drilling before being welded together. Once welded, parts make their final rounds in the paint shop.

In addition to producing parts and equipment for BPA assets, the shops also offer in-house engineering and installation for certain pieces, such as safety rails and walkways for BPA assets and line crews. “We'll coordinate with the transmission design engineers to determine what they need made," said Bradd. “Our shops will fabricate the equipment and provide the installation."

Combined with the important production of standard equipment, the General Shops continue to increase their production flexibility to support BPA's strategic initiatives. This includes supporting projects under BPA's Secondary Capacity Model – a program to outsource certain transmission projects while minimizing the use of agency resources. Recently, the shops produced new cable jumpers for construction on the SCM project at Keeler Substation in Beaverton, Oregon.

Highlighting that he has a team of problem-solvers, Bradd shared that the shops even work out how to produce custom-made parts for older assets.

“We've seen drawings come in here dating back to the 1940s and 50s," he said. “Sometimes the drawings don't have all the details that drawings today have. To circumvent this, we work closely with design engineers and foremen in the field to tailor equipment to fit their specific requirements."

Receiving regular calls from foremen, Bradd said their team is constantly at work drafting, modifying and producing equipment to help keep the lights on across BPA's service territory.

Bradd encourages interested managers to reach out and bring their teams out to the shops for a tour to get a better picture of how they operate, what they produce and how they can help.